On January 30th I will pick a winner at random who will win a 1 hour photo session. The session will take place in North Orange County with location to be discussed with the winner. Along with the free session the winner will receive a free online gallery with up to 15 edited images for digital download! It was great to give away the first free session a few months back to a single mom and her toddler. I look forward to see who wins this one 🙂

I should be asleep- I was up waiting for my stomach to feel settled enough to lay down… As I was about ready to go to bed, my poor little Lima who was keeping me company started to do his cough/gag thing he does and I was compelled to write about him. You see, this dog is more than just our pet he is our family- we LOVE him and have been through a lot with him. About 7 years ago our friends were selling Yorkies and of course I had to have one. When we went to check them out I knew I wanted a female but this little male was soo playful and trying to get our attention, as if he was saying take me home- plus he was really cute in the face. He did spit up a few times but I thought nothing of it and we took him home. I realized shortly after that he was not keeping his food down and when I took him to the vet, the vet gave him something he was allergic to that made him throw up even worse, he was already teeny tiny to begin with and now he wasnt eating, and violently throwing up- I didn’t know what to do- I was crying and so upset watching this and not knowing what to do, should I exchange him for a healthy dog? Should we try to nurse him to health? Well thats what we did- we spoiled him and I smushed up his dog food for a while and he grew to be one of the biggest yorkies you’ll ever meet.

Lima was named after the late Jose Lima who was playing for the Dodgers at the time, he had a great personality that we thought matched our puppy. Soooo over the years Lima developed a condition called a collapsed trachea which is common in his breed, it means that his little airway tube is literally shut in a certain area. This causes him to make a little piggy noise when he gets excited because the air is being forced through his airway. It makes me soo sad to think that we might have contributed to this by not always using a harness- he has sooo much energy and loves to walk but I hate to take him because hes so excited that he makes that sound the whole time which makes me feel like it’s just getting worse. It can get worse, it can be fatal, so I try to keep him calm and happy.

With a human baby on the way I know that they will get along great. I wonder if he senses the baby inside my stomach??? I promise that I will not leave Lima out in the dust. He has made me laugh and cry, he lays in bed with me when I’m sick, he waits outside the bathroom door when I’m in there, he lays in the kitchen and watches me cook and wash dishes, he lays under my desk and sleeps when I’m on the computer, he is always always happy to see me, although he can be a brat sometimes I love him! And if you know him you know you love him too- he really is an awesome dog.

I took this pic a few weeks ago….this nest is in our backyard and is built every year. These birds were there one minute and gone the next just like that…Empty nest. There were about 4 or 5 of them in there, its so crazy how they do all of this. Now the birds are back, we think they are the same birds, I don’t know but a new bird is about to lay some more eggs….Its a popular spot. Up close this is kind of a gross picture but I love it- we are thinking we are going to get a little birdhouse for the birds so they have a better nest to come to…plus it’s kind of messy, all the twigs end up all over the patio. Yesterday when I came home there was a bird in the house! I think it came in through the doggie door- it was trapped, luckily it flew out the door and was unharmed. We saved the bird!

Yesturday was Valentines day it was a beautiful day, we didn’t do much, we thought we would do something today instead so that things wouldn’t be so crowded. So yesturday I took doggy photos for the owner of Ooh Puppy … The owner of the place where I take my dogs to get groomed, she invites her customers to come in on holidays to take a photo, then she gives you a print the next time you come in. So when they were telling me to bring the dogs in for Valentines Photos, I asked who takes the photos, they hired some random photographer, I told her I could take the photos and she was all for it since I’m a loyal customer:)

Ooh puppy is right by my house, it’s really cute and clean, they sell tons of accessories for your dog, and really care for them. I reeally had a blast with the dogs, and their owners, everyone was so nice. I did get pee’d on which was gross but what are you gonna do, my dogs get really excited and pee sometimes too…